my life be offered up as a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is
the supreme Manifestation of God and the Day-Spring of His most divine
Essence." "All others," He significantly adds, "are servants unto Him and
do His bidding."

'Abdu'l-Baha

Dearly-beloved friends! I have in the foregoing pages ventured to attempt
an exposition of such truths as I firmly believe are implicit in the claim
of Him Who is the Fountain-Head of the Baha'i Revelation. I have moreover
endeavored to dissipate such misapprehensions as may naturally arise in
the mind of any one contemplating so superhuman a manifestation of the
glory of God. I have striven to explain the meaning of the divinity with
which He Who is the vehicle of so mysterious an energy must needs be
invested. That the Message which so great a Being has, in this age, been
commissioned by God to deliver to mankind recognizes the divine origin and
upholds the first principles of every Dispensation inaugurated by the
prophets of the past, and stands inextricably interwoven with each one of
them, I have also to the best of my ability undertaken to demonstrate.
That the Author of such a Faith, Who repudiates the claim to finality
which leaders of various denominations uphold has, despite the vastness of
His Revelation, disclaimed it for Himself I have, likewise, felt it
necessary to prove and emphasize. That the Bab, notwithstanding the
duration of His Dispensation, should be regarded primarily, not as the
chosen Precursor of the Baha'i Faith, but as One invested with the
undivided authority assumed by each of the independent Prophets of the
past, seemed to me yet another basic principle the elucidation of which
would be extremely desirable at the present stage of the evolution of our
Cause.

An attempt I strongly feel should now be made to clarify our minds
regarding the station occupied by 'Abdu'l-Baha and the significance of His
position in this holy Dispensation. It would be indeed difficult for us,
who stand so close to such a tremendous figure and are drawn by the
mysterious power of so magnetic a personality, to obtain a clear and exact
understanding of the role and character of One Who, not only in the
Dispensation of Baha'u'llah but in the entire field of religious history,
fulfills a unique function. Though moving in a sphere of His own and
holding a rank radically different from that of the Author and the
Forerunner of the Baha'i Revelation, He, by virtue of the